Free Republic

Korean Air Lines Co. passed over embattled Boeing Co. — typically the carrier’s top aircraft supplier — to order 33 Airbus SE A350 wide-body jets in a $14 billion deal as it seeks to streamline its fleet ahead of a merger with Asiana Airlines Inc. Airbus also scored another victory on Thursday with Japan Airlines Co. buying 42 jets, picking 21 A350-900s and 11 A321neos, while Boeing scored a consolation order of 10 787-9s.

Boeing handed over 27 airplanes to its customers last month as it continues to struggle with quality control problems and production delays that have frustrated the CEOs of some of its biggest airline customers. So far this year, Boeing has handed over 54 planes, while Airbus has widened its lead over its main rival, delivering 79 planes in the first two months of 2024. Delayed Boeing planes have been difficult for airline leaders. Southwest Airlines , which flies only Boeing 737s, on Tuesday said that it would trim capacity plans this year because of fewer Boeing Max deliveries and that...

Luxury carrier Emirates Monday exercised options that will see the airline acquire an additional 95 wide-body planes from Boeing to augment its fleet. Photo courtesy of Emirates Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Luxury carrier Emirates Monday exercised options that will see the airline acquire an additional 95 wide-body planes from Boeing to augment its fleet. The United Arab Emirates flag carrier confirmed the $52 billion order on the first day of the Dubai Airshow. The airline will acquire a further 55 Boeing 777-9 passenger jets and 35 of the 777-8 variant of the next-generation wide-body plane collectively known as the 777X....

A plane previously used by Britain’s King Charles and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was forced to turn around after reaching an altitude of 14,500 feet when crew members realized two of its windows were missing. The Airbus A321 took off from London Stansted Airport for Orlando on Oct. 4 with windows that were damaged by high-powered lights used during a film shoot the day before, The Independent reported. The Titan Airways aircraft was carrying 11 crew members and nine passengers who were employees of airline and the US-based luxury tour company TCS World Travel, according to an incident report by...

An Airbus A320 en route from Sochi to Omsk declared a mid-flight emergency on Tuesday morning and was redirected to an alternate airfield in Novosibirsk, but failed to reach it, emergency services told Russian media. The aircraft was forced to perform an emergency landing in a field 180km away from Novosibirsk International Airport. The incident was reportedly caused by a hydraulics malfunction, according to preliminary reports. There were up to 170 people aboard the distressed Ural Airlines flight, including 23 children. Early reports noted that none of the passengers or crew suffered any serious injuries. The authorities said the aircraft...

Airbus, a European aerospace company, announced a deal Monday to sell 500 single-aisle planes to IndiGo, India’s largest airline, in what is now the biggest plane deal in history. The agreement will make IndiGo the world’s biggest A320 Family—the Airbus aircraft line that is one of the best-selling in the world—customer, bringing the total number of Airbus aircraft IndiGo has ordered to 1,330. Neither of the two companies released financial details of the sale when announcing it at the Paris Air Show, though Reuters reported it’s a “multibillion-dollar deal” and the aircraft will be received between 2030 and 2035. IndiGo...

A French court has cleared Air France and Airbus of charges of involuntary manslaughter over a deadly crash in June 2009 which killed all 228 people on board. The Airbus A330 operated by Air France stalled during a storm and plunged into the Atlantic Ocean. The court said even if errors had been committed, a causal link between them and the crash could not be proved. Families of the victims reacted angrily to the acquittal. They appeared stunned when the verdict was read out at the end of the lengthy public trial. Danièle Lamy, the president of the association which...

France and Germany on Friday hailed the conclusion of a deal to build a new European fighter jet after months of disagreements between two companies involved -- Airbus and Dassault Aviation. Launched by France and Germany in 2017 and since joined by Spain, the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) aims to have a next-generation jet in service by 2040, along with integrated drone fleets. But progress on the new delta-wing stealth aircraft has been plagued by fighting over the sharing of the industrial work as well as intellectual property for the cutting-edge technologies. "After intense negotiations, a deal between manufacturers...

Imagine you were running a small business, and you had a potential employee in front of you. Let’s say the prospect was in line for a very important position, one that required a significant salary and was responsible for people’s lives. You’d want to make sure you had a really good employee, right? Not someone with a criminal record that included financial wrongdoing, including against your own company? Well, apparently, someone in Washington doesn’t agree. Because right now, the European French-based company Airbus may actually get a billion dollar military contract with the U.S. despite its significant history of wrongdoing...

While left wing staffers in the Biden Administration’s State Department are “concerned” that the death cult Taliban has an all-male government, moderate Democrats are (finally) beginning to push back on the insanity of the so-called progressive left. Indeed, when these same woke Administration staff requested, as part of the defense budget a weak, flaccid military spending line item, moderate Congressional Democrats pushed to expand that budget by $24 billion more. But budget realities still need to be observed, and while we need to keep the military strong, we need to find efficiencies while doing so. The Air Force has the...

The list price for the 270 jets totals about $35 billion. Airlines typically pay only a fraction of list prices — and because this is still not a good time for aircraft sales, United is paying far below half of the list price. United is likely getting an especially significant discount, on the 200 Boeing (BA) 737 Max jets that makes up the bulk of the order. The rest of the order is for 70 Airbus (EADSF) A321neo aircraft. United will use most of the jets ordered Tuesday to replace 200 smaller regional jets that carry about 50 passengers each,...

Iran is in its worst economic situation in 42 years, and the threat of a widespread uprising that may lead to the regime’s overthrow has become more serious than ever. When Khomeini was alive, no authority dared to dispute his orders and decisions, and everyone had to obey him. In today’s Iran, Khamenei still has the final say on all internal and international matters. But unlike Khomeini, he has not been able to keep all political factions in Iran at bay. Although Khamenei has not wasted a moment in suppressing its opponents, even those very close to him and his...

ARLINGTON, Va.—Americans for Prosperity (AFP) today issued the following statement from Dan Pearson, AFP Trade Policy Fellow, on the Biden administration’s decision to suspend tariffs previously imposed on billions of dollars of EU goods stemming from the Boeing-Airbus dispute. The move has prompted the EU to follow suit, setting the stage for settlement of the dispute and further opening trade markets. The suspension will last four months while the countries attempt to resolve the matter: “Again, we applaud the Biden administration for moving to reduce burdensome tariffs and put an end to the trade war that has harmed American businesses,...

ARLINGTON, Va.—Americans for Prosperity (AFP) today issued the following statement from Dan Pearson, AFP Trade Policy Fellow, on the Biden administration’s decision to suspend tariffs previously imposed on a number of UK products stemming from the Boeing-Airbus dispute. The suspension will last four months while the countries attempt to resolve the matter: “It is encouraging to see the Biden Administration provide relief from these tariffs. In addition to the benefits Americans will experience from this move, we are hopeful this will lead to a lasting settlement of the dispute between the US and the UK and EU. Freer trade increases...

Man has long tried to imitate birds in building all types of aircraft, to varying degrees of success. A new concept aircraft from Airbus, now in its second stage of testing, is taking biomimicry to a whole new level. ... AlbatrossONE, the scale model concept from Airbus, which comes with longer wings that can bend at the tip, thus allowing for more efficient flight. More efficient flight means less fuel consumption, which, in turn, means less emissions and, of course, optimized costs. The aircraft has semi-aeroelastic hinged wing-tips, so they flap freely, alleviating wing loads and avoiding tip stalling. The...

Europe’s Airbus said on Friday it would increase loan repayments to France and Spain in a “final” bid to reverse U.S. tariffs and jog the United States into settling a 16-year-old dispute over billions of dollars of aircraft subsidies. The European Union, France and Spain said the move to raise interest rates paid by Airbus on A350 aircraft development loans should settle the row at the World Trade Organization and urged Washington to withdraw tariffs on EU goods. “In the absence of a settlement, the EU will be ready to fully avail itself of its own sanction rights,” EU Trade...

Vietnam has suspended 27 Pakistani pilots working at local airlines after 262 of 860 civilian commercial pilots in Pakistan were found to have fake licenses. "All of the pilots are of Pakistani nationality and licensed in the country. These pilots are working at several airlines in Viet Nam," Dinh Viet Thang, Civil Aviation Administration of Viet Nam (CAAV), was quoted as saying by Vietnam News Agency. Minister of Transport of Vietnam Nguyen Van The has asked the CAAV to review the licenses and certificates of foreign pilots who are working at local airlines. The minister ordered ban of fight missions...

The final Airbus A380 in the Air France fleet is grounded at Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG), after taking one last celebration flight to the Mediterranean Sea and back. In a tribute online, the French flag carrier announced the final departure and landing for the superjumbo jet on June 26, 2020. The legendary #A380 bids a final farewell and makes its last #AirFrance flight today, Friday 26 june. 🛬Bye-bye big bird! #AF380 pic.twitter.com/LNkkqX3htU — Air France (@airfrance) June 26, 2020 Originally scheduled for retirement by 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic forced Air France-KLM to reconsider their plans. After flights...

At no point did the pilots say they had a problem with their landing gear or any other type of emergency, according to the radio calls. A deadly plane crash in Pakistan is prompting questions about how the crew could touch down without landing gear when their sophisticated jetliner was bristling with equipment to prevent pilots from doing just that "It is unbelievable to me that an airline crew on a jet like an Airbus, with all the warning systems, would attempt to land the plane without the gear extended," said John Cox, an aviation safety consultant who formerly flew...

A passenger plane belonging to state-run airline Pakistani International Airlines has crashed near the southern port city of Karachi, according to Abdul Sattar Kokhar, spokesman for the country's civil aviation authority.